


Worth It

by greyheart



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Just a morally gray rant, Nothing to see here, using Red Hood as a mouthpiece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyheart/pseuds/greyheart
Summary: Jason has a few things to say to Bruce that don't fit into Batman's moral box.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 80





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn't specifically line up with my own moral code but sometimes you just get so fed up that you wish the Boondock Saints were real.

  
  


“Hood!”

Jason almost groaned in frustration as he slowed to a stop. He was almost to his bike, dammit. He was almost gone. “And here I actually thought I could get away without having to deal with your dramatic posturing again.”

“Those people were unarmed,” Batman growled, “There was no reason to kill them.”

Jason scoffed as turned back, folding his arms across his chest, “Agree to disagree on that one, B.”

“We’ve talked about this, when you work with me, there is no killing.”

The fucking gall. “And when  _ you _ work with  _ me _ , they’re fair game.”

“Hood,” B snapped, “We had enough on them to put them away for good.”

“Yeah, I’m sure all the people in those cells we freed are going to be so disappointed that this didn’t go to trial. They would have much rather preferred that those bastards get sent somewhere where they still have all their connections and support. You can’t trust a broken system to punish the people who helped break it in the first place!”

“It’s not our place to-”

Jason threw up his arms, “Just stop! I don’t care! We’ve done this enough times that you should know, nothing you say will change how I feel about this.”

“There are good people-”

“It doesn’t matter how many good people are trying if the system itself is working against them and no one is bothering to fix it! The few people it does, eventually, hold accountable aren’t worth the time and hassle it takes to navigate all the shit. ‘Innocent until proven guilty' is all well and good if people actually cared about who was innocent instead of just looking out for themselves.”

“Not quite clicking for you? Try actually talking to Golden boy outside of the nightlife sometime. He was actually one of the best cops out there and he had to work at least twice as hard to be considered that. Ask him to tell you the stories of the innocent people the system has screwed over because _good_ cops, not corrupt, but one actually considered good, didn’t want to admit they’d made a mistake. Need specifics? How about, oops, we actually let the real suspect go without getting a real name or contact information, so we’re just going to blame this guy. He doesn’t fit the description but the security system doesn’t store footage past a week, so we’ll just say he was the only person to come out of there, it’ll be their word against ours. And even when the victim doesn’t even pause to study this guy, when asked to identify the man in court, it will still be another year and a half before the case is dropped. Not for lack of evidence, which should be obvious, but because it would be unconstitutional for it to be drawn out longer. Why? Because the longer the case is drawn out the more money the court-appointed defense attorney makes. It doesn’t matter that the defendant’s trying to support a wife and kids, that he’s lost jobs and can’t get work because he has to explain why he’ll need mandatory days off each month.”

Bruce opened his mouth, but Jason cut him off.

“And, yes, I know, ‘ _ that’s just one case, Hood _ ’. But that’s just my point. It’s just  _ one _ case. How about the fact that someone on there first DUI could spend the same amount of time in jail as someone convicted of continued child abuse? Huh? How about the fact that a girl sold into sexual slavery, who works up the courage to try and free herself, kills one of her abusers, and gets sent to prison longer than the abusers themselves? Because killing is wrong. Because she had no right to take that into her own hands. She should have waited for the proper authorities to save her. Eventually. Maybe. Someday.”

“So, where is she now? In another system of human trafficking; privatized and legal. The more prisoners they have the more money and resources they’re given.”

Jason leaned forward, his voice cold, “I’m not going to feed them.”

“Sure there always seems to another dirtbag to take the place of the one I end,” he shrugged, “But maybe if there is someone out here killing the bastards, they might think twice before stepping out of line. And maybe, by taking that one out, I actually save someone else down the line.”

“You can’t know that, Hood.”

“Really? How many people would still alive if you had just ended the Joker that first time?” Paused, waiting before continuing softly, “Me, for one,” then laughed, shaking his head, “not that that matters.”

Jason was grateful for Bruce’s cowl, so he wouldn’t have to see the same string of emotions pass over Bruce’s face, that, ultimately, amounted to nothing.

“But what about even then, huh?” He continued, “What about when Goldie killed him? The world would be a better place if you hadn’t tried so hard to bring him back to save your peace of mind.”

Jason laughed again, hollow and sour, “It always comes back to you. Dark and brooding Batman. Will beat the shit out of criminals. Put them in the hospital. Injure them for life. But killing them is crossing the line. That would take you down a path from which you couldn’t return,” he mocked, “Who knows what you’d be capable of then, right?”

Bruce said nothing and Jason decided that he’s had enough for the night, stalking the rest of the way to his motorcycle.

As he got on the bike and started it up, he turned back to Bruce, almost as an afterthought, “You’re so self-righteous. People are destroying themselves to survive and being punished for it. But go ahead and care more about whether or not you could come back from that dark place. Personally, I’m past the point of caring. Because I’ve already decided my soul is worth sparing theirs’.”

Not waiting for a reaction, he sped off, letting the hum of the engine and the wind through his jacket ground him. Screw the Bat anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not posting this to start a moral debate. Just using fictional characters to vent. Because every one of those examples Jason uses is real (obviously NOT the Joker. Come on.)


End file.
